When it was officially announced, Rob Savage's The Boogeyman was planned as a Hulu exclusive. Now, however, things have changed. The film, based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, evidently did so well in test screenings that Disney decided to give it a theatrical release. Now it's set up to be the first King adaptation to arrive in theaters in 2023, and the brand new trailer is only getting us more hyped.
As teased by Stephen King himself last week, the first look at The Boogeyman premiered today during the NFC championship game, and it looks like we are in for a spooky treat this summer. Featuring a cast that includes Yellowjackets' Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, David Dastmalchian, and Marin Ireland, the story centers on a pair of sisters who discover an evil presence living in their house following the death of their mother (a setup quite different from the source material).
To go along with this trailer, Stephen King has also posted the theatrical poster for The Boogeyman. It's a simple design, but evokes memories of the titular monster lurking in our bedroom closet, and in that respect, it's certainly effective:
Here's the poster for THE BOOGEYMAN, based on my short story. Watch for the trailer, which will debut on today's NFC game. And be sure to close the closet door. pic.twitter.com/DmoUvcI3rsJanuary 29, 2023
The Boogeyman is the third film directed by Rob Savage, whose previous two movies were both part of the screenlife genre (a la Missing and Searching). He first gained attention in 2020 for his séance-over-Zoom feature Host, and last year he followed it up with some monster mayhem in Dashcam.
The Stephen King short story, first published in the 1978 collection "Night Shift," has been adapted by A Quiet Place team Scott Beck & Bryan Woods and Black Swan's Mark Heyman. That's some impressive horror pedigree behind the camera, and this preview has us amped for what they are cooking up.
At present, The Boogeyman is set up to be the first Stephen King adaptation to be released in 2023, but it won't be the last. Though the movie doesn't presently have a scheduled date, Gary Dauberman's take on Salem's Lot is expected to be released before the end of the calendar year. Along with the announcement recently that King's next novel, Holly, will be in bookstores in September, Constant Readers have a whole lot to be excited about in the coming months.
If this trailer has you pumped, make special note of June 3 on your calendar, as that will be the day that the movie arrives in theaters. You can learn more about The Boogeyman via our Quick Things guide, and learn about all of the other Stephen King projects that are in the works from our Upcoming Stephen King Movies and TV feature. For a deep dive into the long history of King stories on both the big and small screens, check out my Adapting Stephen King column.
